Dirk Nowitzki apparently had a pretty effective way of getting under Channing Frye’s skin and it had nothing to do with trash talk.
Frye was asked which player pissed him off the most during his 14-year NBA career, during a recent appearance on the Roadtrippin’ podcast.
His answer?
“Probably Dirk.”
But the reason why might be the most Dirk Nowitzki answer possible.
“Because he’s so damn nice. … I watched a lot of Dirk. I loved his game. He was just unguardable. I mean, it was literally like, ‘What am I gonna do?’ He’s an inch taller than me and shoots the way he does. He was smart. He’s a big dude, strong. I mean, it was just like, ‘God, I’m so tired of having to guard this guy.’ And I was like, ‘What are you gonna do?’ And then he’d be the nicest guy, and I’d be like, ‘Shut up, Dirk… I hate that you’re nice and I like you. You’re a good dude… and you just gave me 40.”
He wasn’t beating opponents with nonstop trash talk or trying to get inside their heads.
He was just incredibly difficult to stop.
The one-legged fadeaway, the size, the shooting ability and the patience made Nowitzki one of the toughest assignments of his generation.
And somehow, he managed to do all of that while still being the guy opponents actually liked.
For Frye, that might have been the most frustrating part of all.
You can hate getting cooked.
It’s a lot harder when the guy cooking you is also a genuinely good dude.
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